We can receive a commission on purchases made from links.
We waited a very long time for the director Ridley Scott to take a series of his best classic from 2000, “Gladiator”, “Gladiator” of 2000. This suite arrived at the end of “Gladiator II” at the form of “Gladiator II. Although it was not as rented as its predecessor, the continuation ended as one of the most profitable films of the year, and he did it without bringing back his previous star, Russell Crowe, winner of an Oscar, like Maximus Decimus Meridius. This is because Maximus died in the first … but that did not prevent the writers from trying to bring him back anyway.
In a recent interview with DirectThe screenwriter Peter Craig revealed that there was, at one point, a scene that would have brought Crowe back as Maximus. It would have taken place towards the end of the film and it would have occurred via a flashback with Lucius de Paul Mescal, who (spoiler alert) is in fact the son of Maximus. Here is what Craig had to say about this:
“There was an idea that the Romans had that you could speak to your ancestors, and they have these underground catacombs where the polls and the ashes and bones of people were all buried under the city. There had been a scene where Lucius discovered that it was his father with Russell.
For what it is worth, only two actors in the first “Gladiator” returned under the suite: Connie Nielsen (Lucilla) and Derek Jacobi (Senator Gracchus). It is therefore not as if Crowe lacked large reunions. However, it is easy to see why Craig and Scott have at least considered this option.
Gladiator II was probably better without Russell Crowe
For better or for worse, Maximus threw a very large shadow on the continuation, even if Crowe does not really appear in the film. There were different versions of the suite floated over the years, but Scott had finally had the impression that it was the right time to make “Gladiator II”. Doing it without the people who made the original such a great success was a major challenge.
Several other writers, with Scott, finally designed the story that we saw taking place in the future. The director ended up being a big fan of the way it turned out, because he has already announced plans for a potential “Gladiator 3” with the return of Paul MESCAL. Craig, for his part, feels that they made the right call by leaving this flashback scene out of the film:
“I think they probably made the right decision not to use it. But I was on it with Ridley [Scott] For a while … I sort of gave them a great menu of things, and they selected certain things, and I think they have left a lot of good things. “”
Whether or not the rest is a satisfactory follow -up is largely a question of individual taste. A Corwe’s cameo probably wouldn’t have moved the needle too much anyway, but it might have been a little forced. “Gladiator II” was criticized for his lack of historical precision, but again, Scott does not know how to make a precise historical epic. Aren’t you entertained, could he ask?
